The Summer Komikon is this Saturday, April 13, once again at the Bayanihan Center. The Mythspace Team will have four new stories (and limited copies of Mythspace #0) available at the event, so it seemed like an opportune time to provide a reader’s guide for our new offerings. But first off, here’s where we’ll be on Saturday:

We’ll have four Mythspace stories out on Saturday, as well as Pilandokomiks (a book illustrated by “Mythspace: An Unfurling of Wings” artist Borg Sinaban) as well as some second hand graphic novels. Here’s a breakdown of the Mythspace titles so you can decide which is right for you (with the answer hopefully being: All of Them):

Title: Mythspace: Black Mark

Artist: Paul Quiroga

Writer: Paolo Chikiamco

Genre: Science Fiction / Action / Mecha

Price: 60 pesos.

Synopsis: What if the creatures from Philippine folklore — the tikbalangs, nuno, kapre — were inspired by sightings of actual alien races? That’s the question that fuels the Mythspace stories.

In “Black Mark”, readers gain insight into the fractious society of the crafty Nuno, where political zealots (who tint their skins to signify their party loyalties) have the government in a persistent state of gridlock. Yet, legend has it that there is a faction that transcends politics: the legendary Black, a task force that is authorized to go to extreme measures to safeguard Nuno society. Helmless Mang, a pariah on his home planet, is about to find out that the Black are very real — and both more powerful and more terrible than that the stories would have you believe…

Reading Notes: Stand-alone story, but provides insight into the Nuno, the race of Qu in Lift-off. Nunos also play roles in Humanity and Devourers of Light.

Folklore Notes: I combined the Nuno and Dwende from folklore to form the Nuno race — the idea of different Nuno types being distinguished by skin color comes from stories about the dwende. The Bungis were one-eyed giants in our folklore.

Title: Mythspace: Humanity

Artist: Cristina Rose Chua

Writer: Paolo Chikiamco

Genre: Science Fiction / Drama

Price: 60 pesos.

Synopsis: What if the creatures from Philippine folklore — the tikbalangs, nuno, kapre — were inspired by sightings of actual alien races? That’s the question that fuels the Mythspace stories.

In “Humanity”, the descendants of humans abductees (taken from Earth centuries ago) labor as slave-miners in the asteroid fields of the materialistic Kataw. Danny and Marta are two young miners, thrust into dire straits when a stroke of good fortune leads to a calculating betrayal. When salvation comes in the form of the legendary Dalakitnon — Free Humans — both of them must decide for themselves what they would give up, to be free.

Reading Notes: A stand-alone story, this expands on the plight of humanity in the galaxy, which is touched upon in Lift-off. Also gives you a glimpse of the culture of the Kataw, and why they have the reputation that they do (as seen a bit in Devourers of Light and Black Mark).

Folklore Notes: The Dalakitnon are one of the “elves” mentioned in our folklore. Kataw is another name for Sirena.

Title: Mythspace: Devourers of Light

Artist: Jules Gregorio

Writer: Paolo Chikiamco

Genre: Military Science Fiction / Space Opera

Price: 60 pesos.

Synopsis: What if the creatures from Philippine folklore — the tikbalangs, nuno, kapre — were inspired by sightings of actual alien races? That’s the question that fuels the Mythspace stories.

In “Devourers of Light”, we learn why the Kapres and the Laho (the reptilian race that inspired the Bakunawa legends) loathe each other. The Laho lead an inter-species alliance to punish the Kapre for violating a galaxy-wide taboo… but when Supreme Apex Barkarilkarilmon loses his patience with the other races, the Laho take independent action — with disastrous consequences for the Kapre race.

Reading Notes: A stand-alone story, this explains why the Laho are the most powerful race (aside from the Lewen’ri) in the Mythspace universe, and also shows why the Kapre are the most unfortunate race. It also gives the reason why no two races hate each other like the Laho and the Kapre, which is important for a future Mythspace story — Mythspace: Common Ground.

Folklore Notes: The Laho are based on the moon-swallowing monsters from folklore, such as the Bakunawa.

Title: Mythspace: Lift Off (Part 2 of 3)

Artist: Koi Carreon

Writer: Paolo Chikiamco

Genre: Science Fiction / Space Opera / Adventure / Young Adult

Price: 60 pesos.

Synopsis: What if the creatures from Philippine folklore — the tikbalangs, nuno, kapre — were inspired by sightings of actual alien races? That’s the question that fuels the Mythspace stories.

Picking up right where Mythspace #0 left off: After years of thinking his Lola was a loon, Amrosio “Bros” Magkalas has been abducted by… a mecha driving Nuno and a gun-toting Manananggal — from outer space?! Faced with the realization that his Lola’s tale of what happened to his parents may not be a delusion, Bros is determined to seek the truth… but outside Earth, humans have no rights. And Bros is about to learn this the hard way… unless another creature of legend can make it to the boy in time.

Reading Notes: Part 2 of the 3 part Lift Off story, that serves as a beginner’s guide to the Mythspace shared universe.

About Me

Rocket Kapre is an imprint of Eight Ray Sun Publishing Inc. (a new Philippine-based publisher), dedicated to bringing the very best of Philippine Speculative Fiction in English to a worldwide audience by means of digital distribution. More info can be found at our About section at the top of the page.